who said "well one and one make two, ... and four and four make ten if you know how to work it right"?

Question

I've heard it attributed to Mae West, but not sure if it was really her or not. And how do you "work it right" to come up with 10?

Answer 1

In her 1959 autobiography, “Goodness Had Nothing to Do With It”, Mae West advised: “Let go of the things that can’t possibly matter to you, and you’ll always have room for the better things that come along. I learned early that two and two are four, and five will get you ten if you know how to work it.”

Describing herself she explained “It isn’t what I do, but how I do it. It isn’t what I say, but how I say it and how I look when I do it and say it.“

Basically, she is describing using her "feminine charms" to her advantage in getting what she wants.

Hope that clears things up.